Help Building A New PC

[Domy]

I would like to build a new PC. I have done so in the past, but I have been so far out of the loop as far as the new technology that's out, that I have no idea of what to buy. So any help you can give would be great. I would like to stay under a $1,000. I filled out all the questions below. I need everything, Motherboard, Ram, CPU, CPU Fan, Power, Video Card, Hard Drive, Case and anything else I might need. I could figure out what I need on my own, but after reading all the post and threads, there are a lot more people out here that know I lot more then I do. Which would help me get what I need without going over board and spending needless money.

PLEASE when you POST threads asking for input on system builds tell us...

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing:
Gaming and Photo editing
2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread:
Under a $1,000
3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from:
USA
4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc:
What ever is good and stable
5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are:
The only parts I will be using from my old PC is Monitor, DVD Burner
6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds:
I have overclocked before, so I would like that option.
8. What resolution YOU plan on gaming with:
What ever is good
9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
I have money in hand.
10. Don't ask for a build configuration critique or rating if you are thin skinned.
I don’t have thin skin, nor I’m I thin, period.

 

[aphelion02]

When we ask you what resolution you plan to game with; we are pretty much asking you what is the native resolution of your monitor. That will help determine what level of graphics card you need. Also, please tell us if you need an OS (this should really be included in that sticky).

 

[Domy]

After reading a few more post I come up with the following. Plese let me know if you thing this would be good, overkill or not good enough.

MOBO = Gigibyte GA-P67A-UD3-B3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX

RAM = G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2x4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

Processor = Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz(3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W
Quad-Core

Power Supply = XFX P1-650X-CAH9 650W ATX12V v2.2/ESP12V v2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire
Ready 80 PLUS Bronze Ceritified Modular Active PFC

Video Card = MSI N460GTX Hawk, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460, 1024 MB, 256 Bit, PCIe
x16 V2.0

Not sure about case, Hard Drive or CPU cooler. Can I just use stock heat sink?

 

[Domy]

Not sure of the monitor resolution. If I have to I will get a monitor that will support video card. I would like to use XP Pro, but I Windows 7 64bit if I need to use that.

 

[aphelion02]

Everything is good; except I am skeptical about the video card. GTX 460 is no longer as good value as it was before. I think there is a Sapphire HD 5850 that is $140 or so at newegg right now; that makes it cheaper and faster than the gtx 460. Either that or you can go slightly higher to the low $200 territory for a HD6950 1gb or a gtx 560ti.

Also I recommend looking into a new monitor, and a new dvd burner if the old was an IDE drive. I also don't recommend XP anymore, I'd spare some money on Win7.

 

[aphelion02]

Also; its worthwhile to thoroughly scour the combo builds for the parts you want. You can shave up to $50-$70 that way. The key combos are those like CPU/Mobo, mobo/ram, mobo /graphics card and CPU/graphics card. Sometimes just by shuffling things around you can get enough for a new case; for example.

 

[mfenn]

After reading a few more post I come up with the following. Plese let me know if you thing this would be good, overkill or not good enough.

MOBO = Gigibyte GA-P67A-UD3-B3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX

RAM = G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2x4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

Processor = Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz(3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W
Quad-Core

Power Supply = XFX P1-650X-CAH9 650W ATX12V v2.2/ESP12V v2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire
Ready 80 PLUS Bronze Ceritified Modular Active PFC

Video Card = MSI N460GTX Hawk, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460, 1024 MB, 256 Bit, PCIe
x16 V2.0

Not sure about case, Hard Drive or CPU cooler. Can I just use stock heat sink?

This looks fine except for the GPU. By my quick math, you are sitting at about $500 w/o GPU and HDD. That leaves plenty of room for a GPU, HDD, ODD, and Case. Here's what I would recommend:

6950 2GB $250 AR
Samsung F3 1TB $65
Samsung DVD Burner $21
Antec Three Hundred $45 AR

You can use the stock heat sink, but it would limit your overclocking capabilities. Add a $30 Hyper 212+ to solve that.

One other thing, you'll need a 64-bit OS like Windows 7 64-bit to be able to use 8GB of RAM.

 

[Domy]

Thank You Very Much Guys. I think this is what I'm going with, unless someone says otherwise:

Combo: Motherboard + Ram = $294.98
*GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD3-B3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel
*G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

Combo: CPU + Cooler = $251.98
*Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core
*COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life
Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7

GPU = $249.98 AR
*MSI R6950-2PM2D2GD5 Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP
Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

Power Supply = $58.99 AR
*XFX P1-650X-CAH9 650W ATX12V v2.2 / ESP12V v2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80
PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Combo: DVD Burner + Nero Software = $47.98
* Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X
DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA CD/DVD
Burner LightScribe Support - OEM
* Nero Software Burn Express

Hard Drive = $64.99
* SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

OS = $114.99
* Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade

Grand Total = $1083.89

This is without a case. I'm going to try and reuse the one I have.

 

[dpodblood]

Pretty nice build you have there. I have 2 comments though. 16GB is way overkill for a gaming build. If you can find a cheaper combo with 8GB ram and save some money that would be better. Also no need so waste money on DVD software. You might as well use a $19 burner, and download CD Burner XP for free (which works in Win 7 as well).

 

[Domy]

Sounds Good!! Thank You!